As many as 17.80 lakh new employees were enrolled under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme during October this year, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said on Wednesday.

The year-on-year analysis showed a growth of 3 per cent in net registrations compared to October last year.

The data showed that out of the total 17.80 lakh employees added during the month, 8.50 lakh employees amounting to around 47.75 per cent of the total registrations belonged to the age group of up to 25 years.

According to the Labour Ministry, 21,588 new establishments have been brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme in October, thus ensuring social security to more workers.

The Indian stock market opened flat on Wednesday as investors await the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.

At around 9:33 am, Sensex was trading at 80,651.44 after declining 33.01 points or 0.04 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,328.75 after declining 7.25 points or 0.03 per cent.

The market trend remained negative. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 882 stocks were trading in green, while 1,306 stocks were in red.

The focus of global markets will be the Fed decision on Wednesday (US time). A 25 bp rate cut is priced-in by the market.

“The attention will be on the Fed commentary. A significant trend in the Indian market is the outperformance of the broader market where good results are getting appreciated by the market and there is no concern of FII selling,” said experts.

Ahead of key policy decisions especially from the US Federal Reserve, the Indian stock market closed in red on Tuesday as selling was seen in the PSU bank, auto, IT, financial service, pharma, FMCG, metal, and realty sectors of Nifty.

At closing, Sensex settled at 80,684.4, down by 1,064.12 points or 1.30 per cent and Nifty ended at 24,336, down by 332.25 points, or 1.35 per cent.

According to market experts, widespread pessimism prevails across all sectors ahead of key policy decisions from the US Fed, Bank of Japan, and Bank of England.

While the market has already factored in a 25 bps cut from the US Fed, it remains vigilant for any hawkish signals, experts added.

Nifty Bank ended at 52,834.80, down by 746.55 points, or 1.39 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 59,101.90 at the end of trading after dropping 341.15 points, or 0.57 per cent.

The structural long-term growth story for India remains intact driven by favourable demographics and stable governance, and Indian equities are likely to stay buoyant next year, a report showed on Tuesday.

Private banks, capital goods and digital commerce are projected to see strong earnings growth in 2025, according to a note by ITI Mutual Fund.

In 2024, bellwether indices – Nifty 50 and Sensex -- generated positive returns of 14.32 per cent and 12.55 per cent, respectively.

While indices related to different market capitalization – large, mid and small represented by Nifty 100, Nifty Mid Cap 150 and Nifty Small Cap 250 were up by 17.80 per cent, 27.60 per cent and 30.71 per cent, respectively, on an absolute basis. (as on December 13).

“Indian equities are expected to perform strongly in the coming year. We believe that sectors like private banks, IT, digital commerce, capital goods and pharma, etc. may have a clearer path to stronger earnings and are expected to perform well,” said Rajesh Bhatia, Chief Investment Officer–ITI AMC.

The year 2024 has been historic for the Indian stock market as companies have raised a record capital of over Rs 3 lakh crore so far this year through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs), and Rights Issues, breaking the previous record of raising capital - Rs 1.88 lakh crore in 2021.

According to reports, 90 companies have raised or announced fundraising of Rs 1.62 lakh crore so far this year, which is 2.2 times more than last year's Rs 49,436 crore.

The amount raised through new issues in 2024 is around Rs 70,000 crore, compared to Rs 43,300 crore in 2021.

So far in 2024, 88 companies have raised Rs 1.3 lakh crore through QIPs. Earlier, the highest amount of Rs 80,816 crore was raised through QIPs by 25 companies in 2020.

So far, 20 companies have raised about Rs 18,000 crore through rights issues. Last year, this figure was Rs 7,266 crore and in 2022 it was Rs 3,884 crore.

The Indian stock market witnessed a sharp decline in noon trade on Tuesday as benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell by more than 1 per cent.

This decline in the domestic market was seen amid investors' caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting on December 18.

On the other hand, the weak performance of heavyweight stocks also brought the market indices down.

At 1.23 p.m., Sensex was trading at 80,747.04 after declining 1,001.53 points, or 1.23 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,364.70 after dropping 303.55 points, or 1.23 per cent.

According to market experts, globally, markets will be looking forward to the FOMC outcome on Wednesday. Markets have already discounted a 25bp rate cut and, therefore, the focus will be on the Fed chief’s commentary. Any departure from a dovish commentary will be a negative from the market perspective, they said.

India's private sector output growth strengthened to its highest level in four months during December, according to the latest HSBC 'flash' PMI data compiled by S&P Global.

The acceleration was reflected in both the manufacturing and service sectors, as companies across the two segments welcomed a faster upturn in new business intakes, the report said.

Ines Lam, Economist at HSBC, said: "The rise in the headline manufacturing PMI in December was mainly driven by gains in current production, new orders and employment. The expansion in new domestic orders quickened, suggesting a pick-up in growth momentum in the economy."

Aggregate job creation climbed to a survey peak amid a faster increase in outstanding business volumes and optimistic expectations for output in 2025. Meanwhile, a moderation in cost pressures somewhat curbed inflation, according to the report.

The Indian stock market opened in red on Tuesday as selling was seen in Nifty's PSU Bank, financial service, FMCG and metal sectors.

At around 9:33 am, Sensex was trading at 81,548.45 after declining 200.12 points or 0.24 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,605.5 after dropping 62.70 points or 0.25 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,263 stocks were trading in green, while 989 stocks were in red.

Nifty Bank was down 133.10 points or 0.25 per cent at 53,448.25. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 59,587.30 after rising144.25 points or 0.24 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,575.45 after rising 44.40 points or 0.23 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Reliance, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank and Infosys were the top losers. Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HCL and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers.

Delhi woke up to a thick blanket of smog on Tuesday morning, with air quality plunging back into the "severe" category and drastically reducing visibility across the city.

As temperatures drop and wind speeds decline, pollution levels have surged, leading to an emergency response from authorities.

At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded alarming levels across key monitoring stations: 465 in Anand Vihar, 456 in Ashok Vihar, 447 at DTU, 443 at ITO, 412 near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and 427 at RK Puram. The capital’s overall AQI stood at 401 on Monday night, a sharp spike from 294 on Sunday and 193 on Saturday, indicating a severe deterioration over just two days.

Experts attributed this drastic rise to a significant drop in wind speed, which has allowed local pollutants to accumulate. Forecasts suggest that air quality will remain at the higher end of the "very poor" to "severe" categories in the coming days due to persistent adverse meteorological conditions.

The main macro drivers remain healthy and India's GDP growth is likely to move closer to the trend growth of 6.5-7 per cent this fiscal, a Crisil Insight report said on Monday.

Trend GDP growth is the average sustainable rate of economic growth over time.

Private consumption growth in the country has fared better than last year in the first half of the current fiscal (FY25).

"While investment growth has moderated relative to last year, its share of GDP remains higher than the pre-pandemic decade," the report mentioned.

Technical factors contributed to an above-trend GDP growth last year. They are expected to have a moderating effect on GDP growth this current fiscal as they normalise.